Collier loses post-conviction petition

JACKSON — The state Court of Appeals has denied a post-conviction appeal from Jimmy Collier, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole for a 2005 fatal shooting.

Collier pleaded guilty in 2008 to a charge of murder in the death of Cora Selvie. Authorities say Selvie’s bullet-riddled body was found on a county road about 300 yards south of the Clay County line.

An Oktibbeha County judge denied his post-conviction petition in 2011. Collier had argued he would have gone to trial had he known his life sentence did not carry the possibility of parole.

The Appeals Court said Tuesday that there was no mention of parole during Collier’s sentencing hearing. The Appeals Court said the trial judge repeatedly told Collier the only sentence he faced was life imprisonment.